July Recruiting Winners: FSU loads up, Auburn flips two five-stars

After a month in which more than 200 high school prospects committed to Power Five programs, it’s time to assess the biggest recruiting winners in the month of July.

A handful of programs pulled in five-star commitments, with seven of the nation’s top 32 recruits coming off the board. And that includes Auburn landing a pair of five-stars who were previously committed to SEC rival programs.

At the stroke of midnight on August 1, 245 of the top 300 players in the On3 Industry Ranking are already pledged to a program, and a few more are set to announce commitments in the next few days. (Compare that to 254 of the top 300 at this time in the 2023 cycle).

But before we get to that, breaking down the biggest winners in July:

Florida State

Commits: 10
Avg. Rating Per Commit: 90.73

Mike Norvell and Co. were the biggest rankings movers in the country over the past month, jumping from just inside the top-15 to No. 5 in the updated On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. The Seminoles kicked things off with a big batch of commitments early in the month, including four-star EDGE DD Holmes out of the DMV. Coveted four-star offensive tackle Jonathan Daniels gave them a pledge midway through the month — a huge win on one of their top targets.

But without a doubt the biggest victory was holding off Colorado to land five-star cornerback Charles Lester III, FSU’s top target this cycle. He silently committed to the ‘Noles in June, but they had a major fight on their hands with Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes.

Georgia

Commits: 5
Avg. Rating Per Commit: 93.85

The Bulldogs’ quest to lead wire-to-wire in the 2024 cycle only gained momentum in July, with five more blue-chippers adding their name to the commitment list. None were bigger than Five-Star Plus+ linebacker Justin Williams, who chose Kirby Smart over his former protege, Dan Lanning and Oregon. Should he sign with the ‘Dawgs in December, Williams will be the sixth five-star linebacker since 2019 to do so.

The bulk of Georgia’s commits in July came in the trenches though, with elite defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye leading things on one side and four-star maulers Daniel Calhoun, Nyier Daniels and Marques Easley closing out UGA’s offensive line haul.

Auburn

Commits: 6
Avg. Rating Per Commit: 91.71

Among the biggest reasons for bringing Hugh Freeze to Auburn was his ability to stockpile talent. He has done so through the transfer portal this offseason, but what he’s done on the recruiting trail has been even more impressive. In the span of just a few days, Freeze flipped not one, but two five-stars committed to Georgia and Alabama. He started last week by beating out Nick Saban to flip UGA linebacker commit Demarcus Riddick and beat Saban again a few days later by flipping wideout Perry Thompson.

The Tigers sit inside the top-15 of the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, and it would be a surprise to see them hovering near the top 10 by signing day.

Tennessee

Commits: 4
Avg. Rating Per Commit: 92.80

Josh Huepel continues to build on Tennessee’s success last season — both on the field and off of it. The Vols had already built one of the nation’s deepest recruiting classes heading into July, but only added to it with four key commitments. The biggest, by no small margin, was landing five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews over USC, Georgia and Clemson.

The 6-foot, 180-pounder is a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands and is exactly the type of weapon Huepel wants around five-star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Tennessee also locked down a pair of top offensive line targets with four-stars William Satterwhite and Bennett Warren, along with top in-state target Edwin Spillman.

Ohio State

Commits: 3
Avg. Rating Per Commit: 94.38

A big August could be in store for the Buckeyes, who will see two five-star targets commit this month: KJ Bolden and Eddrick Houston. It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if either chose the Buckeyes, but they already pulled off a recruiting stunner in July by landing five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott over Michigan, Miami and more.

Scott outright called the Hurricanes his leader earlier this summer, but behind the scenes it was Ohio State making moves in his recruitment. Ryan Day and Co. followed that up by landing two top cornerback targets in four-stars Miles Lockhart and Aaron Scott, whom they beat rival Michigan for.